Combination drumstick and maraca



April 5, 1949. MOSSEY 2,466,554

COMBINATION DRUM STICK AND MQBAC-A Filed June 24, 1946 INVENTOR. HA m? y M0555 y Patented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION DRUMSTICK AND MARACA Harry Mossey, Denver, 0010.

Application June 24, 1946, Serial No. 678,874

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a drum stick of the snare drum type. In the usual orchestra or band it is necessary for the drummer, or some other member of the band, to shake the maracas during the playing of certain pieces, such as rhumbas. If the drummer is used for this purpose, the drums must be eliminated, and if a musician is hired for this purpose, he will have no duties during the rendition of straight music.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a device which will enable the drummer to continue with his drums and still produce the effect of the maracas.

Another object of the invention is to provide a snare drum stick with a hollow, gourd-like maraca so that the vibration of the drum stick during the regular drumming will be imparted to the maraca so that the drumming and the maraca effect will be in perfect rhythm.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional snare drum stick, with the invention applied thereto; and

Fig. 2 is a similar View, partly in cross-section, the sectional portion being taken on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

The particular type of drum stick employed forms no part of the present invention. It may be any of the conventional types of snare drum sticks, such as illustrated on the drawing at 10.

The invention is applied to the stick ID by placing a hollow ball ll about the stick ID intermediate its extremities and in a position somewhat closer to the drum extremity of the stick than to the hand extremity thereof.

The ball l may be formed of any suitable material which will give a hard, dry, rattling sound. It could be formed of the conventional maraca gourd, or it could be formed from hard plastic or similar material.

If formed of the latter material, it is preferred to form two, diametrically opposite openings for the passage of the stick l0, one of the openings being smaller than the other to accommodate the natural taper of the drum stick. Each opening is surrounded on the interior of the ball by means of a sleeve-like flange 12 which may be cemented or otherwise permanently secured to the stick [I].

The ball contains a quantity of hard, loose, rattling members l3, such as steel shot or the like.

In use, two of these improved rhumba-type sticks are used by the drummer in playing his snare drum at the regular beat tempo. It can be readily seen that each stroke of each stick will cause the loose members l3 to rattle in the hollow ball ll, giving the desired maraca or rhumba effect.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A drum stick for producing a maraca efiect comprising: an elongated drum stick; a drumengaging end at one extremity of said stick; a hand-engaging end at the other extremity of said stick; a hollow ball member secured about said stick, the latter passing diametrically through the former; a plurality of loose, hard, rattling members contained within said ball; said ball being secured to said stick intermediate the extremities of the latter and relatively closer to the drum-engaging end than the hand-engaging end; and inwardly extending flanges formed on said ball and surrounding said stick, said flanges being permanently secured to said stick.

2. The combination with a snare drum stick of the type tapering from a relatively thick handle extremity to a relatively thin drum-engaging extremity of a hollow ball member fixedly secured on and surrounding said drum stick intermediate its extremities, and a plurality of loose, rattling particles carried in said hollow ball member.

3. The combination with a snare drum stick of the type tapering from a relatively thick the latter, and a plurality of loose members in it said ball to produce a rattling sound as said stick vibrates against a drum.

4. The combination with a snare drum stick of 4 a maraca gourd mounted thereon, said stick passing through said gourd sufliciently far to allow said drum stick to be used for its normal snare drum purposes.

HARRY MOSSEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Brief May 4, 1943 Number 

